


With Love Always

by fireyhotspot



Series: Merry Christmas Raphael [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angel Family, Christmas, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireyhotspot/pseuds/fireyhotspot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been a long hard year. Nearly ten months ago the Grace parents had died in a car wreck, on their way to the airport which had left Michael in charge of their large family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Love Always

**Author's Note:**

> I really don’t know what happened I started with the two prompts and it turned into this story.
> 
> Castiel/Raphael: You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!  
> You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch!: My muse about to ruin Christmas! Horror! The other muse watches on. Can they make the grinchy heart grow from being two sizes too small?
> 
> Raphael/Michael  
> Silent Night: Not a creature was stirring… It’s Christmas Eve and everyone is in bed, except for our muses.
> 
> AU human Raphael’s male vessel, Raphael: 16 Castiel: 7 Michael: 19 Lucifer/Nick: 18 (in case you care about anyone else Gabriel 10 Balthazar 8 Uriel 8 Anna 9 Samandrial 5).

It had been a long hard year. Nearly ten months ago the Grace parents had died in a car wreck, on their way to the airport which had left Michael in charge of their large family.

Luckily their home was paid off but that didn’t make money any less tight, feeding 9 people was still a big job on Michael salary as a mechanic. That had lead Lucifer to join the Navy the minute he’d turned 18. He and Michael had gotten into a fight about it and hadn’t spoken since, but like clockwork every month they’d still get a check from Lucifer.

However with the Holiday season, even with Lucifer’s extra money, they would’ve have had much money to get presents, so Michael had started working an extra job so they’d have enough money gift this year. He hated it but had managed to get together the money together so everyone would have presents under the tree.

Raphael had wanted to help get some of the money but Michael had firmly told him no. So now Raphael was forced to watch his brother grow old to fast unable to do anything more than put the kids to sleep. It just bothered him very much that he couldn’t help.

Right now it was Christmas Eve and Raphael had made sure everyone was going to bed so Santa could come and Michael was in his own room catching up on sleep, before he’d get up and put the presents out tomorrow morning. But Raphael had everyone to sleep, well everyone but Castiel.

“Raphael can Santa bring Mommy and Daddy back?” Cas asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was a curious child still unable to understand why their parents had come home and right.

“No Castiel,” Raphael said again just wishing Cas would go to sleep.

“But why?” The blue eyed child questioned.

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because Santa isn’t re….” Raphael just about yelled but he stopped himself looking down at his tiny little brother with those big blue eyes, Raphael couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence.

“Because Santa isn’t what?” Cas asked hiding his face in their fathers old trench coat he used like a blanket. He was tearing up from making his brother mad.

“Because Santa isn’t … able to stop angels from doing their job,” Raphael thought quickly not wanting to take some else from Castiel, the boy shouldn’t have to lose Santa.

“Angels?” Cas asked lowering the coat.

“Yes remember how Michael told you Mom and Dad where Angels,” Raphael explained.

“Yes,” the young one replied.

“Well, as Angels Mom and Dad are doing very important thing for God,” Raphael explained, “they have to make sure other people prayers get answered. And they have to make sure it snows too. It’s very important and Santa knows that so he has to let them do their jobs.”

“Oh,” Cas chirped, “those are very important things. Everyone needs snow for Christmas.”

“Now come onto Castiel, you do want Santa to come don’t you?” Raphael asked ready to lead Cas to his room.

Cas nodded and a allowed Raphael to guide him to his room he put the trench coat on the bed but before he crawled in himself he turned back to his brother and asked him me more thing.

“Raphael, can Santa give messages to angels?”

“Yes, he can Castiel,” Raphael replied before he got to his knees beside the bed, “but tonight on Christmas Eve you need to prey to him so he can write your message down and take it to them.”

“Ok,” Cas said getting on his knees next to Raph, “what do I do now?”

“Just talk to him like you do when to talk to God,” the older one explained folding his hands and closing his eyes.

“Dear Santa, please tell Mommy and Daddy I love them and that Michael and Lucy and Raphael have been working really hard while they are busy helping God,” Cas preyed eyes closed hands folded, “tell them they and the other angels are doing a good job and that they are working hard too. And God please watch out for Michael, Nick…um Lucy, Raphael, Gabriel, Anna, Balthazar, Uriel, Samandrial, Dean and his family….”

“And Castiel,” Raphael added knowing Cas wouldn’t do it himself.

“Amen” Cas finished. Then he crawled up into bed.

Raphael tucked Cas in and kissed his forehead good night before turning off the light, making sure the nightlight was on, before he slipped out and shut the door quietly. He was going to bed himself but stopped when he heard a voice from behind him.

“That was very nice of you.”

“Michael?” Raphael said spinning around to see his older brother leaning against the wall opposite Cas’ door, “you should be sleeping.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Michael said standing straight leading them back not the kitchen so they wouldn’t wake the kids.

“You need to get some rest,” Raphael said unhappy to see Michael wake now, “you’ve been working too hard.”

“You should take your own advice,” Michael replied putting a firm hand on Raphael’s shoulder, “you’ve been working very hard too, watching them while I’m away.”

Michael removed his hand from Raphael’s shoulder and turned around a picked up a small present off the counter. Raphael noticed that there were eight other ones still sitting on the counter. Each one was wrapped in shiny paper in everyone’s favorite colors, pale pink for Anna, purple for Balthazar, Uriel’s was orange, Gabriel’s was a gold, Samandrial’s was striped like a candy cane, Castiel’s was a shiny black, Red would’ve been Lucifer’s, the silver Michael’s and the shiny green one in Michael’s hand Raphael.

“Here,” he said holding up the gift wrapped in shiny green wrapping paper, “I was going to make you wait til morning but I think you’ve earned to open it now.”

“What is it?” Raphael asked taking the box from Michael.

“Open it,” Michael said, “just be careful with the paper so we can rewrap it s the kids think Santa sent us.”

Raphael was careful only untaping one side of it before he careful slide the box into his hand. He opened the lip of the box. Inside he found a necklace with a Saint Raphael charm on it and a note that read:

‘To our dearest Raphael,  
Thank you very much for helping watch over your brothers and sister while we are away. Look out for Michael and Castiel; they sometimes forget to think of themselves. Remember that God’s love is always with you.  
~with love always Mom & Dad’

“Mom and Dad sent this,” Raphael said after reading the note three more times in his head, “but how?”

“They had sent one for each of us,” Michael said with a small smile, “the necklaces were meant for us while Mom and Dad were away on their trip, because even when they were just going on two week trip for themselves they were always thinking of us. They also sent one message for us to read to the little ones. You, Lucifer and I were the only ones with the small notes; I didn’t read yours or his were meant for the both of you.”

“The necklaces had arrived the day after…” Michael paused looking away to take a breath so the tears in his eyes would fall, “In all the confusion I’d forgot about them.”

Raphael just nodded unsure of what to say. He missed their parent’s as well.

“I found them a week ago and wrapped them all of them,” Mike continued “I was going to let the kids open them and think Santa had sent them letters from Mom and Dad in Heaven, because you know ‘Santa can take messages to angels’”

“I suppose they can,” Raphael said with a small smile.

The stood there in silence for a few minutes.

“Well on a somewhat happier note,” Michael started not liking the silence, “I want you to know I’m quitting both my jobs…”

“Michael are you crazy…” Raphael began taken a bit off balance by what his brother had said.

“Let me finish,” Michael said sternly, “You know Castiel’s friend Dean, right?”

“The Winchester boy, yes.”

“I meet his father, John Winchester, the other day when I picked Castiel up from their house after my shift last week,” Michael told, “Castiel had told him that I worked for Gordon at his auto shop. Mr. Winchester asked me when I’d come over to show him what I knew and he offered me a job to come and work for him for twice the pay with befits. Said it would be worth it to take his competitor’s best mechanic. Act surprised when Castiel tells everyone tomorrow.”

Raphael just nodded surprised Cas had kept a secret for a week. He was going to say something when it hit him, “you said we all got a necklace from our parents does Lucifer kn…”

“He knows I talked to him yesterday said he’d be home in a few weeks,” Michael cut him, very matter of factly. To an outsider it may seem a bit harsh but Raphael could tell that Michael and Lucifer had made up at least somewhat.

“That is good to hear,” Raphael said giving a smile.

“Come on let’s put the presents under the tree,” Michael said returning the smile.

——  
The next morning everyone woke up happy to open presents from Santa. Mike had told Gabriel to pass out the gifts, and Gabriel had picked out the small boxes wrapped in shiny paper matching their favorite colors.

“It’s an angel,” Anna said holding up what was inside her box for everyone to see.

Everyone else held theirs up as well. Even Michael and Raphael acted as if they were surprise by the gifts.

“What’s that?” Uriel asked when he happened to notice the white envelop pinned to the Christmas tree.

“It says it’s from Mom and Dad,” Gabriel said surprised unsure if he should believe it or not, before he handed the envelop to Michael to open.

Everyone watched as Michael tore into it. He then held up a card with fluffy white cloud on it, having originally been meant to be opened in April, and he read aloud:

'Dear our wonderful children,  
Even in this time we are away from you, we will always being thinking of you. Make sure sure and listen to your brothers. They work very hard watching over you. Each of the necklaces we have sent you has the angel you are named after on them. Those angels and God will always be watching out for you even when we can’t.  
~with love always Mom and Dad.’ 

Everyone sat there quietly unsure of what to say.

“That’s not really what it says,” Balthazar said aloud what the others had been thinking, but hadn’t wanted to say aloud for the fear Michael was somehow living to them.

“That’s really what it says,” Michael said giving it to Gabriel who read it himself confirming his brother’s words.

“Castiel preyed to Santa so he could send them a message,” Raphael explained to everyone, “and it looks like Mom and Dad answered him back. Take good care of those necklaces kids.”

“Thank you for asking Santa to talk to Mommy and Daddy for us Cassie,” Samandrial said getting up and hugging Cas, before he went back over to sit next to Michael.

Everyone else thanked Cas as well. Michael gave Gabriel Lucifer’s gift for safe keeping knowing that Gabriel would make sure the red package was well protected, it was probably the only thing Gabriel would take great care with. Castiel got to tell everyone the big new that Michael was going to work for Dean’s dad and not that mean Mr. Walker anymore.

The rest of the morning everyone opened all the other presents and gifts under the tree, before they ate breakfast.

“Come on everyone let’s get dressed and we can go sledding,” Michael said knowing that soon everyone start to go a little stir crazy stuck inside all day.

All the kids cheered and ran to go get dress to play in the snow, Michael had gone to go help dress Samandrial and to make sure the youngest necklace was up in a safe place. Raphael was about to follow when something wrapped around his waist. He looked down to see Castiel hugging him.

“Merry Christmas Raphael,” Castiel said hugging his brother’s waist, “thank yo for help me talk to Santa Claus so he could give my message to Mommy and Daddy.”

“Merry Christmas Castiel.”


End file.
